Coming Home
by sinjinh1
Summary: A Lost Son returns home.
1. Chapter 1

Tim Speedle stood in his apartment and looked around. He had lived here for the past six years and it still didn't feel like home. Home was Miami. Home was the crime lab. Home was a lifetime ago. He had seen the news. He knew what had happened to his friends, his family, and he knew there wasn't anything he could do about it. He wasn't Tim Speedle any more. He was Jake Spencer, protected witness.

It had all started with one of the first cases he had worked in Miami. He had managed to find enough evidence to bring down a mob boss who had "retired" to Florida. What he didn't know was that the mob boss in question had laid the ground work for his escape when he was sent to prison.

From 1998 to 2004, life had been perfect. He had a job he loved. He had friends that he considered family. He was respected and loved. He hadn't felt this good in a long time. He should have known it wouldn't last.

His nightmare began when he answered his doorbell to find two US Marshalls standing there. He had been told that his life was in danger. His response was that his life was always in danger, he was a cop and a CSI. They wanted him to go with them and be placed in the Witness Protection Program. He had refused. Then they showed him the pictures. Pictures of his family in New York, pictures of Alexx and her kids, pictures of everyone he cared about. They had all been taken by a professional hit man the feds had busted. They knew he wasn't the only one interested in Tim Speedle's contract. A contract on a cop was a hot item.

He was told that the hit man had intimated that the people in the photos were lures to throw Speed off his guard. They arraigned to keep tabs on his cases. They already had someone placed at the jewelry store as part of an undercover operation. That man was the one who fired the "fatal" shot at Speed that day.

He had been told that Alexx had been given his body. He had been sedated to the point where it only appeared that he was dead. She hadn't wanted or needed to perform a full autopsy. The only thing she did was cut the bullet out of his body. After that, the body had disappeared. No one at the crime lab knew that they had buried an empty box.

He had been taken to California. He hated it there. All he wanted to do was go back to Miami. He had kept up with everything that was happening to his friends. He knew that Horatio had married Eric's sister and she had been murdered. He knew that Ray had come back and that Horatio had sent his family to Brazil. He knew that Eric had been shot in the head twice. And he knew that his wallet had been stolen by Tyler. That was the part that pissed him off the most. How dare that guy try to take over his life and give his friends hope that he was alive.

"Screw this," he thought as he went to his bedroom and started packing. He was going home. The mob family he had pissed off had been overtaken. The contract was gone and the boss who had promised vengeance was dead. There was no danger. He was going to take his life back.

Horatio had just had the hardest conversation in his life. He had been forced to tell Eric that he could not come back to CSI. The department's doctor would not clear him for duty. Two bullet wounds to the head were two too many for the doctor. He would still be able to work as an investigator for the State's Attorney's office, but he would never be a CSI again.

Horatio walked into his house and went straight to his bar. He poured himself a drink and sighed. Things hadn't been the same for six years and he knew it. The day Tim Speedle had died in his arms had been the day everything changed. He found himself going through the motions.

He had stopped processing crime scenes. He had stopped doing lab work. He hadn't even cared when the department hired Boa Vista full time while he was in Brazil. Had he been thinking clearly there was no way he would have ever signed off on that. She had betrayed them. She wasn't someone he could trust. Hopefully he wouldn't have to put up with her much longer. Ryan had told him that she was having hearing problems. He hoped that meant she would be given a medical release from his lab. Given the choice he would have rather lost her than Eric, but he couldn't fight the doctor's decision and Eric hadn't wanted him to.

He was starting to put together a good team again. Adding Jesse and Walter had given the lab something it hadn't had in years. They had brought life back into the lab. But the heart was still gone. The heart of the lab had died that day in the jewelry store.

He sighed when he heard the doorbell. He really hoped it wasn't someone from work. He knew he couldn't deal with them now. He finished his drink and walked to the door. The person on the other side was someone he never expected to see again. Someone who's grave he had just placed flowers on before coming home. "Speed?"

"Can I come in?" was all Speed could say.

Horatio was too stunned to do anything but move so Speed could come in. He just watched the man as he walked into the house. He didn't even realize he was following him until he remembered to check and make sure the door was shut. "How?"

"It's a long story," Speed sighed.

"I'm not going anywhere."

Speed nodded and told him everything about the last six years. He explained that he wouldn't have left but they were threatening Alexx. He finished his tale and sank onto the couch. "God, Horatio, I never wanted to leave. I never wanted to put any of you through this. I swear."

Horatio sat beside him. "I know Speed. I know. Look, let me look into a couple of things before we start telling people that you're back among the living. You can stay here. I have a guest room."

Speed nodded. Horatio could tell that he was tired so he sent the younger man upstairs. Then he went to his computer. Something didn't seem right to him. He looked into the events surrounding Speed's entrance into the Witness Protection Program and found some interesting things. He decided to wait until Speed was awake before he said anything to him.

He went to the kitchen and started making dinner. He was grateful that he had been to the store the day before. Otherwise there wouldn't have been any food in the house. He had just set the food on the table when Speed came in. "You hungry?"

"Starving," Speed said as they sat down.

They started to eat and Horatio looked at the younger man. He could see that Speed hadn't changed too terribly. He was still too skinny, as Alexx would say. He still couldn't find his razor. Horatio had to shake his head. He couldn't believe he was actually sitting here having dinner with a man who he had buried six years ago.

"I'm really here H," Speed said as he looked at the older man. "And I'm not going anywhere. I don't care what the feds say."

"About that," Horatio said as he sat back in his chair. "I did some digging while you were asleep. I don't know who the men were that took you to California, but they weren't US Marshalls."

"What?"

"The Marshall Service has no record of them. They have no record of putting you in the program. The hit man they told you about died in 1977. There was no contract on you, ever."

Speed threw down his napkin and stood up. He began to pace. "You mean to tell me that I put all of you through that for nothing? That the past six years of my life were wasted because someone decided to play a head game?"

"It looks like it," Horatio said as he got up and went to his friend. "I'm going to talk to someone I trust with the Marshall Service tomorrow. I'm going to do some more digging. I'll get to the bottom of this, I promise."

Speed nodded and they went back to the table. They finished eating and Speed told Horatio what he had been doing in California. He had become a doctor. He had enrolled in medical school as soon as he arrived. He had just finished his residency in trauma medicine. He told Horatio he hadn't decided if he was going to accept the hospital's offer to become an attending physician.

"It just never felt like home, H," Speed sighed as he drank his beer. "I knew I had to come back here, no matter what the consequences were."

"Once we get this straightened out, would you want to come back to the lab?" Horatio asked.

"I don't know. So much has changed. I don't know if I could ever go back there."

Horatio nodded. "I can understand that." Then he grinned. "Of course, you could always become an attending in Alexx's ER."

Speed laughed. "That would be interesting."

They continued to catch up. Horatio explained what was going on with Eric. He also told him what had happened when Tyler had his wallet. "Delko really thought he had seen me?"

"He was convinced you were in Miami. Tyler's credit card trail didn't help."

"I had heard about the credit cards, but not all of it."

"How did you keep tabs on everything?"

"Took out a subscription to the Miami Hearld," Speed grinned. "And I accessed some of the information from the MDPD."

"Don't tell me you hacked into the MDPD computer."

Speed grinned. "Okay, I won't."


	2. Chapter 2

Horatio just laughed. Then he looked at Speed. "How do you want to tell the others?"

Speed sighed. "I don't know. I want to see them. I don't want to wait."

Horatio nodded. He got out his phone and called Alexx, Calleigh and Eric and told them to come over right away. He told them it was important and it involved Speed. They said they would be there as soon as they could. Speed said he would take care of the dishes and stay in the kitchen until Horatio called for him.

After each of his friends arrived, he looked at them and said, "I've come into some information about Speed and I thought you three should be the first to hear it."

"What is it?" Alexx asked.

"First of all, I have to tell you, there is someone in my kitchen who can explain things better than I can," he said as he went over to the door to the kitchen. He opened it and motioned for the person to come in.

Alexx and Calleigh gasped as Eric jumped out of his seat. "What the hell!" he said as he looked at Horatio. "This is not funny, H."

Speed walked up to his friend. "I'm really here, Eric. You're not hallucinating. I promise."

Eric nodded, then he punched his best friend. "Eric!" Alexx said she jumped up and rushed over to Speed.

"It's okay, Alexx," he said as she took his face in her hands. "I probably deserved it."

"You're really here?" she asked as tears came to her eyes. He nodded and she pulled him into her arms. "Oh, my baby. What happened? Where have you been?"

"Let's sit down and Speed and I can explain," Horatio said as Calleigh turned on him.

"You knew?" she accused.

"No, Calleigh," he sighed. "I had no clue he was alive until he came to my door tonight."

Speed and Alexx sat on the sofa with Horatio. Eric and Calleigh sat across from them. Speed told them about the US Marshalls and the threat to Alexx. He told them what he had been doing for the last six years. Then Horatio explained what he had discovered.

Eric held his hand up. "So let me get this straight. Some guys posing as Marshalls set all of this into motion? Why?"

"We don't know," Horatio admitted. "This is why we need your help. We need to find out who is behind this."

"Horatio, I can't be a CSI anymore," Eric sighed.

"We know that," Speed said as he looked Eric in the eye. "And that's to our advantage. They won't be expecting you to be investigating. You and Alexx are out of the lab. You two can investigate with me. I can't exactly go running around Miami yet. Calleigh and H can investigate as much as they can from inside the lab. They can bring in who they trust, but we've got to keep this quiet as long as we can."

"Speed's right," Calleigh agreed. "Whoever did this went to a lot of trouble to make it look like Speed was dead. If we investigate this openly or if he comes out of hiding too soon, they could come after them again."

"Or they could make good on their threat to Alexx," Speed said as she squeezed his hand.

"Baby, I can take care of myself," she said as she looked at him. "We need to do whatever we can to get you back into the land of the living."

Calleigh suggested they use some of the connections they had made in the New York crime lab to help their investigation. Horatio said that was a good idea and contacted Mac Taylor. Mac agreed to give them any help they needed. Speed and Eric decided to fly up to New York to start their investigation.

The next day, Eric and Speed went to New York with instructions from Horatio to be careful. They worked with Mac Taylor and Danny Messer exclusively on the case. They find out that Natalia Boa Vista was an alias. She was never admitted into Quantico. She had been placed there for the soul propose of spying on the lab. She was still was reporting to someone, just not the FBI.

They flew back to Miami and gave what they found to Horatio and Calleigh. The two of them ran everything through the Miami lab. They brought in Ryan, Walter and Jesse and had them keep an eye on Boa Vista. Walter overheard her phone call to her contact. "There's something going on," she said to her contact. "Delko came in a few days ago and gave a file to Caine and Duquesne. They pulled Cardoza, Wolfe and Simmons into Caine's office. No, I don't know. I'll find out."

Walter walked past her on purpose when she hung up. "Walter, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked.

"Sure, Natalia, what's up?" he asked as he gave her a smile.

"What are you and Ryan and Jesse working on?"

"Oh, Horatio got a hot lead on a cold case. He wants us to follow up on it. It could connect to the jewelry store Tim Speedle was killed in."

"Do you need any help?"

Walter saw his opportunity. "Sure, we could use some help with a couple background checks."

"Who are you looking at?" she asked as she grabbed a pad and some paper.

"We're looking at Ed Byrne and Chris Addison," Walter said as he handed her the file he and Jesse had put together for just this purpose. "They seem to be connected to what happened that day."

She took the file and smiled at him. "I'll get right on this."

Walter left her and sent a text to Horatio. H just smiled and waited. He watched from his office as Boa Vista hurriedly grabbed her purse and started out of the lab. He let her get to her car before he signaled Calleigh to make the arrest.

"What's going on?" Boa Vista asked as she was led into an interrogation room.

She saw Frank and Horatio standing there as Calleigh shut the door. "H, I was about to run down a lead on the cold case you gave Walter when Calleigh arrested me. She said she is charging me with attempted murder. Who am I supposed to have tried to kill?"

"Me," Tim Speedle said as he came out of the shadows.


	3. Chapter 3

She looked at him and her eyes got big. Then she composed herself. She looked at Horatio. "Really, Horatio, hiring someone to pretend to be Tim Speedle? Is that how you ran Delko out of the lab."

"I didn't run Delko out of the lab, Ms. Boa Vista," Horatio said as he laid a file down in front of her. "You did when you bribed his doctor to say he wasn't fit to resume active duty. He has been retested by doctors in New York. They found his recovery sufficient to return to the lab, but not the field. He is currently weighing his options."

"What we're here to talk to you about is your connection to two me impersonating US Marshalls," Frank said as he glared at her. "Two men who went under the aliases Ed Byrne and Chris Addison. Nice trick with those. No one here would have connected them with comedians in the UK. Too bad the NYPD has them in custody. They are currently spilling the beans on everything they know about what happened to Speedle."

"I want my life back," Speed said as he came over and leaned on the table. "I want to live my life in Miami. I can't do that until you start talking. Who are you working for? Why did you help arrange for me to join witness protection? Why was it so important to get me out of the lab?"

"Because you would have told Caine that we were trying to discredit the lab," she spat. "Stetler said you were the one to watch out for. So he arranged for these two to get you out of the picture. We thought threating Woods would keep you out of trouble. They took you to the other side of the country. You weren't supposed to have access to anything related to Miami."

"Yeah, well, I did," he said as he stood up. "I kept an eye on my friends and family. I decided to take my life back."

"Why would Stetler want to discredit the lab?" Frank asked.

She huffed. "Because he blamed Caine for everything that had gone wrong in his career. He blamed Caine for the fact that his relationship with Yelina not working out."

"And what do you blame me for, Ms. Boa Vista?" Horatio asked as he looked at her.

"I blame you for your arrogance," she said as she turned her glare towards him. "You think you're flawless. You think that you can't do any wrong. You haven't truly lead this lab in years. You should have let Megan Donner have the lab back."

"You did this because Megan didn't get the lab back?" Speed said surprised. "Megan came back too soon after her husband died as it is. She left again because she knew she wasn't ready to work."

"No, she left because he ran her out," she spat. "Horatio Caine ran her out of the lab and she drank herself to death."

"Megan's dead?" Speed asked as he looked at Horatio.

"I hadn't heard from her since she left," Horatio said as he looked at Calleigh. "Check that out please."

"Of course," she said as she walked out of the interrogation room.

Horatio sat down in front of Boa Vista. "Who were you talking to earlier?"

She sighed. "Stetler's lawyer. I was supposed to keep him in the loop. If we could discredit the lab enough, he could be released from prison. He never belonged there anyway. That bitch deserved to die."

"Have you compromised cases?"

"I had to," she huffed. "Your techs are too damned perfect. Even Tyler's work can't be questioned and he stole a dead man's identity. Well, not so dead anyway."

Horatio looked at Frank. "We'll have to retest every piece of evidence for every case she's worked since she's been in the lab."

"How many convictions are in question?"

"Too many," he said as he turned back to her. "You understand that this is just the start of the charges against you. We will be looking into if you helped Stetler kill Nevins or not. You are also being charged with impersonating a federal agent."

"I have one question," Speed said as he looked at her. "Why you? Why did Stetler send you in to do his dirty work?"

"Megan Donner was my friend," she said. "I watched what he did to her. I tried to help her but she wouldn't let me. I was determined to avenge her. I was willing to take down this lab and the almighty Horatio Caine. I was supposed to seduce him, but he wasn't falling for it. At first I thought it was because of Delko's sister. Then I realized he only married her to give a dying woman her last wish. He wasn't in love with her. He was in love with a man he thought was dead."

"Get her out of here, Frank," Horatio said as he looked at Speed.

"Come on," Frank said as he grabbed Boa Vista up and lead her out of the interrogation room. Speed looked at Horatio. "Is that true? You didn't really love Marisol?"

"Not here," Horatio said as he led Speed out of the interrogation room. They found Calleigh.

"She's right," Calleigh sighed. "Megan died of liver cirrhosis not long before Boa Vista joined the lab. She had moved to Tampa. It was never reported to the Chief so MDPD was never notified."

Horatio nodded and looked at Speed. "Go tell Alexx it's over. I'll meet you back at my house."

"H…"

"I'll see you in a couple of hours," Horatio said as he walked away.

Calleigh looked at her friend. "What happened after I left?"

Speed sighed. "She said she was supposed to seduce him. She said she couldn't because he was in love with someone else."

"Who?" she asked. "I know he didn't love Marisol… Oh, Tim."

"Yeah, it shook him up, so I doubt it's true," he shrugged. "Listen, I'm going to go talk to Alexx. I'll see you later."

She watched him leave then she went to find her boss. She found him on the firing range. When he was done shooting she went up to him. "Not bad," she said as his target came into view. "Not your best work either."

"I've been distracted," he said as he put down the protective glasses.

"Tim told me what Boa Vista said," she said as she touched his arm. "He thinks you sent him away because you were denying it. I know better. You have to tell him. We just got him back. You don't want to lose him because you can't tell him how you feel."

"What if he doesn't feel the same way?" Horatio asked.

"What did I tell you after his funeral?"

"You told me that we had both been stupid," he admitted. "You told me that we should have told each other how we felt. Hell, you told me that when he and Eric left for New York."

"You should really start listening to me," she said as she smiled at him. "Go home, H. Tell him the truth."

Horatio just nodded and left the firing range. He drove around for a while before he went back to his house. He found Speed sitting in the living room with his bag at his feet. "Where are you going?" he asked as he set his keys down on the table by the door.

"Alexx said I could stay with her until I get a place," Speed said as he stood up. "I'm going to start working at the hospital next week. They got my records from California and offered me a job as an attending in the trauma department. I think it helped that Alexx gave me her recommendation."

"You're not coming back to the lab?" Horatio asked surprised.

"I don't think I was ever coming back to the lab," Speed said. "I haven't been a CSI for six years. I lost my passion for it. I'm a doctor now and I love it. Besides, you don't need me there in your face."

He leaned down and picked up his bag. When he straightened back up, Horatio was in his face. "You're not going anywhere," he said as he looked into the younger man's eyes. "Not without me. Not ever again."

"H…" Speed started as Horatio grabbed his face and pulled him in for a kiss.

Six years' worth of pent up passion went into that kiss. Six years of thinking the man he loved more than life itself was dead. Six years of going through the motions of his life. Six years of kicking himself for not telling this man how much he loved him. When they parted, Horatio looked at him. "Upstairs, now."

Speed grinned. "I thought you'd never ask."

He dropped his bag and kissed Horatio, who gripped Speed's shirt. He pulled Speed towards the stairs and they barely made it to the bedroom before Horatio tore Speed's shirt off. The passion they had been hiding before Speed left added to six years of thinking they would never see each other again guided their actions.

Hours later, they lay in each other's arms and Horatio kissed the top of Speed's head before he spoke. "I could really use you back at the lab."

Speed laughed. "Nope. I'm going to work at the hospital and that's final."

"I thought you just said that because you thought Boa Vista lied," he said as Speed looked up at him.

"No, that was my plan since I got back from New York. I applied for the job and got it because I wanted it. I'm not going back to the lab. I'm sorry, H."

"No, it's okay," Horatio said as he smiled at his lover. "You can go to the hospital and work. I'm okay with that. The only thing I ask is that you come back here every night."

Speed grinned. "I think that can be arranged."

Three months later, Speed and Horatio went to the docks. They both had the day off and they were going scuba diving. "How did I let you talk me into this?" Speed said as he looked at his lover.

"We both decided we were going to support Eric in this new business," Horatio said as they got to the boat.

"I thought you meant moral support," Horatio said as Eric came up on deck.

Eric laughed as he looked at his friend's face. "Is he whining already?"

Calleigh came up on deck behind him. "That figures. He never did like diving."

Alexx came down the dock. "As Eric's first paying customers it's only right that we go diving, Timmy."

He just gave her a look that melted when she gave him her mother look. "Okay, let's get this show on the road."

"You mean boat in the water?" Eric teased. "Come on, you can help me cast off."

Horatio laughed as he watched Speed and Eric cast off. He thought back on the last three months of his life. They had been the best three months. He had found Speed. They had admitted how they felt about each other. They were in a committed relationship. Eric had started a business he loved. While he would have loved to have had Speed and Eric back at the lab, he understood their reasons for not returning.

His relationship with Speed and Eric's new relationship with Calleigh might have caused trouble and with the investigation into how much damage Boa Vista had done to the lab, they didn't need any more scrutiny. He was happy with the way his life with Speed was going. He was going to ask the younger man to marry him. And who knew, there could be children one day. The future was theirs and he had never been happier.


End file.
